George Lusk

George Akin Lusk (1839—25 October 1919) was a British builder and

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Chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee

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Lusk was elected chairman of the

In October 1888 Lusk came to believe that his house was being watched by a sinister bearded man, and requested police protection. He received a small package in the evening mail at his home, 1 Alderney Road, Mile End. On opening the package he found a letter addressed to himself, inside which was half a human kidney. The letter read:

"From hell

Mr Lusk

Sor

I send you half the Kidne I took from one women prasarved it for you tother pirce I fried and ate it was very nise I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer.

signed Catch me when

you Can

Mishter Lusk."

This letter is referred to as the "From Hell letter" by Ripperologists.^[3]

Convinced the letter was a practical joke, Lusk placed the box and the kidney in his desk drawer. At a meeting of the committee the next day he showed it to other members. Joseph Aarons, W Harris and two other members called Reeves and Lawton visited Lusk at home to inspect the letter and the kidney. Lusk wanted to throw both away, but he was persuaded to take them to Dr Frederick Wiles, who had a surgery nearby on the Mile End Road.

Wiles was out, so his assistant, F S Reed examined the contents of the box and took the kidney to Dr.

Lusk is also mentioned in the 17 September 1888 'Dear Boss' letter, but this letter is regarded by many Ripperologists as being a modern hoax, surreptitiously placed into archived records.[4]

Film and television portrayals

• In the 1988
  Jack the Ripper, starring Michael Caine, Lusk was played by Michael Gothard. During the film, Lusk is portrayed as a violent Marxist
  and power-hungry politician, though in real life he was known for his peaceful nature.
• In the 2001 film From Hell, starring Johnny Depp, Lusk was played by Vincent Franklin.
• In BBC One's Ripper Street (2013) he was played by Michael Smiley, who reconvenes the Vigilance Committee, in spite of its official disbandment, to persecute a young boy suspected of a violent murder.

Footnotes